The Thorens TAB1600 Absorber Base was specially developed for the improved installation of turntables. Made of a MDF base plate, which is additionally attenuated by a layer of fabric, it is combined with an acoustic foam in sandwich construction. This unique combination highly efficiently decouples the turntable from its underground, so preventing acoustic feedback. Contrary to the principle of coupling by spikes, which often can negatively influence the sound quality by vibrational coupling to the ground, we use the principle of decoupling in the TAB1600 to neutralize the negative impact of structure-borne sound from the turntable.

A new direct drive from Thorens

With new TD 402 DD Thorens presents a direct drive turntable for the first time for more than 30 years. TD 402 DD comes with auto shut off function and with pre installed AT 95VM E cartridge by Audio Technica that makes it a best buy in the high quality middle class.

The styling recalls the famous Thorens TD series of the past but TD 402 DD is a completely new design that contains not only a very silent direct drive motor with switchable auto shut off but also new tone arm TP 72 with carbon tube and changeable headshell, a damped platter and an integrated phono stage for moving magnet cartridges that can be switched off when required. Even an optional auto start function is implemented that starts turning the platter once the tonearm is moved towards the record.

Fast ready to use

TD 402 DD comes ready to use. Only the platter has to be placed on the axis, the tone arm balanced and tracking force and anti skating adjusted. Putting in a belt is not necessary since there is none. And later while playing the end of the record is reliably detected and the drive stops.

Finish

TD 402 DD comes with dust cover and a massive MDF plinth in piano black and high gloss walnut veneer on damping black rubber feet with silver rings. In combination with a top board of brushed aluminium this emphasizes the noble look of that turntable.

TD 402 DD in Thorens product range

Thorens TD 402 DD continues the range of best value for money record players that started with new belt driven TD 201 and TD 202 and rounds it up to the top. It delivers high quality at an affordable price and comes with newest generation of Audio Technica VM cartridges that allows several upgrade steps by simply replacing the stylus up to a Shibata one.

Thorens as the oldest brand in audio opens a new chapter in history of high quality analogue reproduction with the presentation of the new tape machine TM 1600

This time not only records, which are called “vinyls” today, are experiencing a strong revival, also the for a long time seen dead magnetic tape technology with quarter inch tapes is rising like a phoenix from the ashes.

Tape Machine Thorens TM 1600

The new Thorens TM 1600 comes in a plinth very similar to that of new TD 1600 series record players in black high gloss or walnut high gloss. It’s designed as playback device for half track quarter inch tape.

Base for the new machine is the newly developed very compact tape drive from Ballfinger. Within its 50 mm height it gives a freedom of design that has not been seen before. Nevertheless it contains direct drive motors with tension controls for the reels. To keep the whole drive as compact as possible the tape path geometry was totally new designed. So the sensors are not located below the reels as normally but between them above the heads.

The tape machine is driven by three motors. The reel motors are electronically commuted disc motors that use rotor angle detection by hall sensor feedback. The capstan motor is an ironless bell-shaped rotor motor from a German manufacturer that runs a round belt.

Although very compact these motors supply an enormous torque with very small torque variation and are very silent running. Head and capstan motor could be placed far from each other to generate a very high signal to noise ratio. Additionally power supply is outsourced which reduces noise level even more and so extensive measures for magnetic shielding of the heads could be avoided.

Thorens TM 1600 handles reels up to 10.5” with 19 and 38 cm/s. CCIR equalization for most European recordings and NAB for Americas and Asia can be selected.

The tape machine comes with real time counter with hours/minutes/seconds/hundredth seconds and as common with professional studio machines there is an edit function with pre-listening for single hand operation.

Generally Thorens TM 1600 has been designed for horizontal operation. But it’s prepared for wall mounting, too.

Availability and Price of Thorens TM 1600

Thorens TM 1600 will be available from summer 2020. Plinth and dust cover are the same as on the new record players TD1600/1601.

The tape machine will be presented on German High End 2019 show in Munich. Later 100 pieces will be manufactured as special edition individually numbered. Price will be € 11.999,00 (RRP). Manufacturing will take place in Duesseldorf, Germany in cooperation with Ballfinger and RecordingTheMasters, vendor of analogue tape located in Avranches, France.

With launch of TM 1600 in summer 2020 by Thorens a new long overdue chapter of analogue tape recording is written. For decades tapes were the only available medium for music production and recording that gave long playing times without need to change from side A to B. Later digital technology drove out the expensive and very complex tape machines from recording studios and private homes. But todays fantastic rebirth of vinyl and tape proves the world isn’t that simple and music cannot be reduced only to sounds – no matter how high the tonal quality is.

History

In 1965 in Sainte Croix, Switzerland the development of a new, affordable turntable called TD 150 was finished. This turntable later became the blueprint for a very successful generation of turntables. Originally invented by AR but almost forgotten the suspended sub chassis became very popular with Thorens new TD 150 and its successors. It entered mass market and a lot of other vendors used it, too. The most famous one is still produced in Scotland.

Thorens transferred that principle to the following generations of its turntables beginning with still famous TD 125 in 1968 until the 90s of last century when production of TD 160 Mk V finished. Also, TD 126 and its extensions TD 127 and TD 226 and even the monumental Reference from 1980 and Prestige from 1983 were designed with that kind of suspension.

Even though Thorens started a new era of suspension design in the middle 80s the original TD 160 and its successors are still seen as the “classic” Thorens turntables.

The present

TD 1600 and TD 1601

Starting with the acquisition of the brand Thorens by Gunter Kürten and the resettlement to Germany in 2018 a recollection of the Thorens “DNA” began. This will be reflected in future products and so the product spectrum will change with respects to former virtues but also move to current technologies.

The first result of this will be presented on this years High End show in Munich: TD 1600 and TD 1601. The name almost reveals it, both should be seen as modern incarnation of TD 160. Both use suspension and damping by conical springs for effective decoupling from installation site. But also both are totally different inside. They fill the gap between tradition that made the old turntables famous and 21. Century technology.

From outside immediately recognizable as quite near to TD 160 series, they come with wooden plinth, two-parts platter with belt running internally and thick rubber mat and acrylic dust cover. But there are a lot of innovations inside: the conical springs are are not mounted on top board any longer but on the botton. So the sub chassis does not hang but stands on these springs. Additionally a small but strong tightened thread made of steel connects sub chassis with a steel pin on the bottom and so prevents sub chassis from staggering and allows only vertical movement.

Differences between TD 1600 and TD 1601

Both models share the same platform and the same height adjustable TP 92 tonearm, but TD 1601 adds some comfort features. TD 1600 is a totally manual turntable, while TD 1601 comes with an electrical lift, auto shut off at the end of the record with lifting the arm and real balanced output sockets (XLR). Motor, Control unit and power supply are the same.

Thorens was honoured as German Traditional brand by PLUS X AWARD. Thorens is proud to be amongst the first brands to be honoured with this newly created award.That award appreciates German brands that are commited to their tradtion for decades or even centuries. Thorens was founded in 1883 and fits perfectly into that picture.